
Carney, premiers must see through climate change-denial smoke
More than 350 years after the discovery of gravity, nearly 150 years since Thomas Edison fired up a light bulb and close to a century after a Scottish bacteriologist's accidental observation of penicillin's superpower, scientists are being forced to come to the defence of science itself.
This past weekend, representatives of the leading science academies from G7 nations released something called the 'Ottawa Declaration of the Science Academies of the G7,' a one-page document that serves as a prelude to a summit meeting to be held later this month in Alberta. This gathering is being hosted by the Royal Society of Canada, a non-partisan, non-governmental organization that advises the federal government on policies impacting science, academics and the arts.
'Especially in times of uncertainty, it is essential that our Academies commit to strengthening our efforts in defence of the integrity of science and the science advice systems that are critical elements of free and democratic societies,' Royal Society president Dr. Alain-G. Gagnon said in a news release accompanying the declaration.
Why would these non-partisan scientific organizations feel the need to defend science? In large part because the government of the United States, the nation that invests the most money in scientific research and development, has launched an all-out war on science and scientists.
With little more than the stroke of a pen, U.S. President Donald Trump has cancelled research projects, eliminated funding for research and for the institutions of higher learning that conduct the scientific exploration.
Meanwhile, Trump has put the Department of Health and Human Services into the hands of Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a self-described skeptic of long-established, evidence-based medicine who has not met an unfounded health conspiracy theory that he could not embrace. Recently, Kennedy announced intentions to stop federally funded scientists from publishing in peer-review journals.
At the same time, the Trump administration has waged an equally furious war against climate science, eliminating programs to promote clean-energy generation, rolling back subsidies to help the automotive industry transition into EVs and cutting funding for climate research.
Given the important role that the U.S. plays in global science, Trump's decisions have triggered shock waves that are undermining science all over the world.
What is most frustrating is the fact that the war on science is so counter-intuitive.
Right now, there are millions of people questioning the efficacy of vaccines, even though they have been protected from fatal diseases for most of their adult lives. Fights continue to erupt over whether to wear masks in public to slow the spread of airborne viruses, even though most of us would never allow a surgeon to operate on us without a mask. We question whether carbon is ruining our climate even as we head into what experts believe will be the warmest year on record.
The war on science is a pandemic of irrationality, fuelled by ignorance and sustained by misinformation. It's also highly contagious.
Alberta Premier Danielle Smith leads the war on science — particularly climate science — in this country. Smith has never explicitly denied that climate change is real, but her actions demonstrate her contempt for the idea that burning fossil fuel is ruining the planet.
When asked last summer about the devastating wildfires that ravaged the tourist mecca of Jasper, Smith blamed 'arsonists' and not the drought and extreme heat brought on by climate change. Meanwhile, she has pursued a range of policy demands that clearly show she does not believe climate change is an existential threat.
She wants guaranteed access to the Pacific, Atlantic and Arctic coasts for her province's oil and gas, elimination of carbon emission caps and the abandonment of net-zero requirements for new power generation.
Like most oil and gas advocates, Smith canters ahead with policies to sell and burn more fossil fuels without any consideration of the net cost.
There is no doubt that Alberta's government would become much wealthier if it were easier to get the province's oil and gas to more markets. It's also equally true that, at the same time, Alberta would incur considerably more costs to deal with the carnage of floods and fires that are directly caused by climate change.
More worrisome is the fact that Prime Minister Mark Carney's government may be willing to give in to some of Smith's demands in a futile effort to cultivate more political support in Alberta.
Tuesdays
A weekly look at politics close to home and around the world.
Monday's first ministers meeting in Saskatoon included discussions on fast-tracking infrastructure projects of national significance. The list of projects has not been publicly released, but there is little doubt that new pipelines are the main priorities for provinces such as Alberta and Saskatchewan.
Carney is faced with a choice: accept the science and growing anecdotal evidence of the impact of climate change; or join Smith in kicking the climate-change can down the road until we can no longer see it through the smoke.
When it comes to energy infrastructure, there is no sane argument for investing now in anything that is not zero-emission, or that helps connect the electricity grid in Canada so provinces can help each other meet their power needs.
As the authors of the Ottawa declaration in the defence of science have made abundantly clear, to do anything else would be indefensible.
dan.lett@freepress.mb.ca
Dan LettColumnist
Dan Lett is a columnist for the Free Press, providing opinion and commentary on politics in Winnipeg and beyond. Born and raised in Toronto, Dan joined the Free Press in 1986. Read more about Dan.
Dan's columns are built on facts and reactions, but offer his personal views through arguments and analysis. The Free Press' editing team reviews Dan's columns before they are posted online or published in print — part of the our tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press's history and mandate, and learn how our newsroom operates.
Our newsroom depends on a growing audience of readers to power our journalism. If you are not a paid reader, please consider becoming a subscriber.
Our newsroom depends on its audience of readers to power our journalism. Thank you for your support.
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


Winnipeg Free Press
11 minutes ago
- Winnipeg Free Press
Remarks by Trump's pick for ambassador spark a political storm in Argentina
BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AP) — U.S. President Donald Trump's choice for ambassador to Buenos Aires sparked a storm Wednesday over his remarks that Argentina's powerful ex-president should face justice in cases in which she was never convicted and his pledges to use his posting as a bulwark against China. Opposition politicians in Argentina accused Peter Lamelas, Trump's nominee for ambassador to the second-biggest South American country, of violating diplomatic conventions, interfering in Argentine domestic affairs and meddling in judicial matters. Argentine media went into fifth gear with their coverage of Lamelas. Lawmakers introduced a bill in Congress rejecting his remarks as 'an unacceptable interference in matters of national sovereignty.' Trade unions planned a mass protest for Thursday outside the U.S. Embassy in Buenos Aires. The Cuban-born Lamelas, a physician, founder of a chain of urgent care clinics in Florida and longtime Trump donor, would otherwise be stepping into the role at a time when the relationship between Argentina and the United States is at its strongest in recent memory. The testimony Lamelas spoke on Tuesday before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing on his nomination. He said he would support Trump's ally, right-wing Argentine President Javier Milei, in ensuring that the country's former president Cristina Fernández de Kirchner — now serving a six-year sentence on corruption charges under house arrest — gets the 'the justice that she well deserves' in cases unrelated to her current sentence. He also claimed her house arrest was a result of 'political favoritism,' although it is common practice in Argentina for those convicted over the age of 70. Fernández, the most prominent figure in Argentina's left-leaning Peronist opposition movement, which holds a majority in Congress, did not mince words when she posted her reaction. 'The only thing he didn't say was that he'd appoint the courts himself,' she said. Referencing scandals roiling the U.S., such including the investigation of convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, she added: 'They should clean their own house before commenting on ours.' There was no immediate comment on the hearing from libertarian Milei, elected in 2023 on a wave of public outrage over the failed economic policies of Fernández and other left-leaning populist predecessors. Milei has repeatedly praised Trump and replicated his policies — including by following the U.S. in pulling Argentina from The World Health Organization — and recently dined and posed for friendly photos with Lamelas at Trump's opulent Mar-a-Lago club. 'LAMELAS GO HOME,' wrote Axel Kicillof, the governor of Buenos Aires, Argentina's most populous province, on X. 'Lamelas' statements evoke the darkest times of United States interference in the democratic life of our region,' he added. The controversy Lamelas waded into a controversy Tuesday when remarking on the alleged role of Fernández, Milei's political enemy, in the cover-up to obstruct the investigation into the 1994 bombing of a Jewish community center in Buenos Aires, which killed 85 people and wounded more than 300. While several people, including a former federal judge and a former head of the intelligence services, have been convicted for helping to stymie the investigation into the attack, Fernández has yet to stand trial on cover-up charges. She denies the allegations. In his testimony, Lamelas contended that Fernández was 'definitely involved in the cover-up,' without elaborating or saying why he believes this. As ambassador, he would support 'Milei and the Milei government on all their efforts to get to the bottom' of the bombing and 'make sure that Cristina Fernández de Kirchner receives the justice that she well deserves,' Lamelas said. Fueling the fire further, he suggested Fernández had something to do with the suspicious 2015 death of Alberto Nisman, the special prosecutor appointed to investigate the bombing. 'God knows if she was involved in (his) death,' Lamelas said. Fernández has not been formally accused or charged in connection with Nisman's death. An early investigation stated that Nisman committed suicide, but a later report showed that it was a homicide. The case has not been resolved. Alarm over China In another part of his testimony, Lamelas expressed concern over China's growing influence in Argentina, citing that the governors of Argentina's 23 provinces had the autonomy to negotiate 'with external forces, with the Chinese or others, to come in and do projects in those particular provinces.' 'That may also lend toward corruption,' he added. 'My role is to get out into the countryside and make sure that we weed out corruption.' Argentina's provincial governors castigated Lamelas and called on Milei to reject his nomination. 'Stay in your country and solve your (country's) corruption problems,' shot back Gustavo Melella, governor of Argentina's southernmost Tierra del Fuego province. 'No ambassador has the right to lecture us.' The governor of Argentina's central La Pampa province, Sergio Ziliotto, had a similar response: 'The only ones who can command us are the people of La Pampa.' Despite U.S. efforts to urge the Milei administration — along with other U.S. allies in Latin America — to move away from China, Argentina's trade with China has increased over the past year. China's Embassy in Argentina issued a statement apparently directed at Lamelas, though it did not mention him. 'Argentina should not become a stage for the games of major powers,' it said. ___ Associated Press writer Isabel DeBre in Buenos Aires, Argentina, contributed to this report


Winnipeg Free Press
41 minutes ago
- Winnipeg Free Press
Supreme Court allows Trump to remove 3 Democrats on the Consumer Product Safety Commission
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court on Wednesday allowed the Trump administration to remove three Democratic members of the Consumer Product Safety Commission, who had been fired by President Donald Trump and then reinstated by a federal judge. The justices acted on an emergency appeal from the Justice Department, which argued that the agency is under Trump's control and the president is free to remove commissioners without cause. The three liberal justices dissented. The commission helps protect consumers from dangerous products by issuing recalls, suing errant companies and more. Trump fired the three Democrats on the five-member commission in May. They were serving seven-year terms after being nominated by President Joe Biden. U.S. District Judge Matthew Maddox in Baltimore ruled in June that the dismissals were unlawful. Maddox sought to distinguish the commission's role from those of other agencies where the Supreme Court has allowed firings to go forward. A month earlier, the high court's conservative majority declined to reinstate members of the National Labor Relations Board and the Merit Systems Protection Board, finding that the Constitution appears to give the president the authority to fire the board members 'without cause.' The three liberal justices dissented. The administration has argued that all the agencies are under Trump's control as the head of the executive branch. Maddox, a Biden nominee, noted that it can be difficult to characterize the product safety commission's functions as purely executive. Monday Mornings The latest local business news and a lookahead to the coming week. The fight over the president's power to fire could prompt the court to consider overturning a 90-year-old Supreme Court decision known as Humphrey's Executor. In that case from 1935, the court unanimously held that presidents cannot fire independent board members without cause. The decision ushered in an era of powerful independent federal agencies charged with regulating labor relations, employment discrimination, the airwaves and much else. But it has long rankled conservative legal theorists who argue the modern administrative state gets the Constitution all wrong because such agencies should answer to the president. The Consumer Product Safety Commission was created in 1972. Its five members must maintain a partisan split, with no more than three representing the president's party. They serve staggered terms. That structure ensures that each president has 'the opportunity to influence, but not control,' the commission, attorneys for the fired commissioners wrote in court filings. They argued the recent terminations could jeopardize the commission's independence. ___


CBC
an hour ago
- CBC
Florida judge denies Trump administration's bid to unseal Epstein grand jury documents
A judge on Wednesday rejected a Trump administration request to unseal transcripts from grand jury investigations of Jeffrey Epstein years ago in Florida, though a similar records request is pending in New York. U.S. District Judge Robin Rosenberg in West Palm Beach said the request to release grand jury documents from 2005 and 2007 did not meet any of the extraordinary exceptions under federal law that could make them public. The Justice Department last week asked the judge to release records to quell a storm among supporters of U.S. President Donald Trump who believe there was a conspiracy to protect Epstein's clients, conceal videos of crimes being committed and other evidence. In 2008, Epstein cut a deal with federal prosecutors in Florida, pleading guilty to state charges of procuring a person under 18 for prostitution and solicitation of prostitution. That allowed him to avoid federal prosecution and a possible life sentence. Instead he served 13 months in a work-release program. He was required to make payments to victims and register as a sex offender. The wealthy financier later was arrested in 2019 on federal sex trafficking charges. His former girlfriend, Ghislaine Maxwell, was charged with helping him abuse teenage girls. Epstein was found dead in his cell at a federal jail in New York City about a month after he was arrested. Investigators concluded he killed himself. Maxwell later was convicted at trial and sentenced to 20 years in prison. The case attracted attention because of Epstein and Maxwell's links to famous people, including royals, presidents and billionaires. It also led to some of the biggest conspiracy theories animating Trump's base. Are Trump's social posts an Epstein distraction tactic? 2 days ago U.S. President Donald Trump has made a series of controversial social media posts, with some political scientists saying it's likely a tactic to divert attention away from the so-called Epstein files.